Installation in Missoula Mercantile is completed

We may add art in late April on the Front Street side of the building only.  These must be 2D works.  Deadline is April 1. You will hear from us after April 1 if your work is accepted. The current  installation is planned to remain in place until July 1, and at that time we may do a second installation. However, the building will be undergoing renovations , so we might not be able to place more art after July 1. Please note on your application if you are interested in this. Its a good idea to apply either way, because we are looking into other opportunities.  Thanks!

Using Art in Vacant Storefronts to Rebuild A Small Town’s Future

 This is an excerpt from an article on a rural tourism website, www.ruraltourismmarketing.com .  Full article here

"Nothing portrays decline and defeat like a block full of empty storefronts. That is the situation in small town after small town throughout the United States right now.
With a rise in interest in “local,” – local food, authentic experiences, a slower pace of life and all that longing for something REAL, these empty small towns should be bustling with visitors, but they’re not."

"Changing perception is the first step in turning around a small town.

Taking an idea from larger communities, small towns are beginning to turn to their arts community for help.
Filling those vacant storefronts with art has been a successful economic revitalization project for the San Francisco Arts Commission.
Eugene, Oregon is also filling vacant storefronts with art.
And now, Dunsmuir, California, population barely 2000, is readying five storefronts for the work of local artists.

Why Economic Revitalization through art?

“Since the beginning of time, artists have sought out inexpensive, interesting places to make art,” muses Siskiyou Arts Council Executive Director, Lauri Sturdivant. “They move into small towns, crumbling lofts in cities, off-the-beaten path districts in order to live cheaply and make art. Then, restaurants follow and little stores and curious shoppers and all of a sudden, the area becomes ‘trendy.’ Prices go up and artists move on, creating opportunity in a new backwater location.”"
Full article here

KECI covers Celebrate Missoula

Watch the news story here, with "person on the street" interviews..

We made the headline!

Betsy Cohen of the Missoulian came by when we were installing this, and wrote a great peice on it!  Read it here

Missoula Mercantile is installed

Thank you to everyone that helped make this project possible. Desarae Muller of the Missoula Storefront Art Project and Abe Coley of KBGA and Home Resource both contributed a ton of volunteer hours to this project. Thank you Octagon Partners for allowing this to happen!  As we were installing it , many pedestrians stopped to thank us and say that they loved finally having that site feel active again.  Pictures soon to come!

Interested in participating?
The Missoula Mercantile " Celebrate Missoula" display will stay in place until July 1. In late April we may be going back into the building to make some additions of 2D art only. But we may not.   There are about 16 windows that can be filled.  Please fill out THIS FORM if you wish to be considered. Our preference will be for art by individual artists over arts organizations if we do add some more.

 Please inform yourself about what this project is before you make a query, because your question may have an answer right here on this website.

Think this project is awesome? Want to see more empty storefronts filed with art?  This is a volunteer-run project and it has a budget of $0. Today's installation began at 9:30 am and was completed at 7pm.  Several people volunteered throughout the day. Several full 8 hour days were put into coordinating this particular display.  While the work is totally worth it, running on no budget with unpaid workers is not sustainable in the long run. Please consider donating money to help provide hanging and display materials, photocopies of liability waivers, funds for phone minutes, coffee and treats during installations,  etc. Please also consider pitching in to get the windows washed while this display is in place!  Either show up with some buckets and squeegies, or perhaps donate some funds so we can pay someone to do it!  Thanks! If you would like to contribute, send us an email!

ARTS DISPLAY TO FILL MISSOULA MERCANTILE WINDOWS MARCH 15

 (Excerpt from Press Release ..image above edited for illustration)

Just in time for tourist and Saturday Market season, the Missoula Storefront Art Project is installing an exhibit entitled , “Celebrate Missoula,” in Missoula Mercantile, formerly the Macy’s building.  The display is a community effort to highlight Missoula’s vibrant arts and cultural activity, while finally repopulating those prominent windows downtown.

Modeled after several other projects like it throughout the nation, the Missoula Storefront Art Project seeks to use empty storefronts to display art. By pairing artists’ need for venues with the community’s desire for active buildings, the project hopes to assist in neighborhood revitalization and economic development.

Featured organizations include:  The Missoula Downtown Association, The Buisiness Improvement District, Missoula Art Museum, The Clay Studio, Montana Museum of Art and Culture, Missoula Public Library, Zootown Arts Community Center, The Vespiary, The Parenting Place, The Downtown Dance Collective, and Home Resource.

Featured artists include: Tim Thornton, Jerry McGahan, Abe Coley, Amber Bushnell, Adelaide Every, Cotey Newall, Tony Cesare, and more.

Many heartfelt thanks to Octagon Partners for allowing this project to move forward, and to Gatewest Property Management for providing access to the building , and assistance with measuring and planning! Thanks also to the Missoula Art Museum for printing posters, and Imagine Missoula for sponsoring hanging supplies and signage for the project!

"Macys" is Missoula Mercantile: Call to Artists!

We currently have about 12 arts organizations  and a handful of artists getting ready to display work in the "Macy's" building, now owned by Octagon Partners. We seek more proposals for 2-d art.  Please contact debbyflorence@gmail.com ASAP to make an inquiry!  Even if you have one big painting hanging around, we might have a place for it! The theme is Celebrate Missoula:  Arts and Culture

INSTALLATION DATE:  MARCH 15!

There are 13 windows along Higgins Avenue, shown in these pictures.  We will place the most professional/visually striking and LARGE display materials there.

For example, The MAM is going to print very large , mounted posters depicting photos from their ART FOR ALL Snap Art program . Each poster will be the size of one window panel.

 The main windows are 94"X88" in size, not including the metal joiners. If someone wants to build multiple pieces that will join and hang back from the glass (the hooks in the ceiling are 28" back from the glass), the width should be 96" because the metal separators will not be a factor.

The two windows at the north end which slant back toward Front Street are each 55" wide.

  

  

FRONT STREET MEASUREMENTS ( no image available yet)  20 Windows, accepting submissions of two-dimensional works, like photography and painting.  

Numbering starts from Higgins and Front, walking down the block toward Pattee. Artists, please measure again from the outside before you create something, just in case.  They are all 84.5" tall, but vary in width. We suggest you copy these measurements down, and take them with you to scope out the windows, it will make sense to you then. 

Windows 1-10 : 61.5"

Window 11:  was 88.5" wide

Window 12 : 61.5"

Window 13th  through 17:  73" wide. 

The 18th window represents an alcove which measured 56.5" wide with the angled side measuring 42".  Same height as the rest (84.5"). The 19th window is the opposite alcove and measured 60.5" with an angled side of 44". Same height.

Window 20 measured 88.5"

Windows 21-23 measured 87" (maybe 86" on the safe side).